Toco-born Daneil Williams and Fabien Whitfield had to settle for seventh spot when the seventh and final leg of the 2015 NORCECA Continental Beach Volleyball Circuit ended at Courland Heritage Park, Turtle Beach, Tobago, yesterday.
The top T&T pair of Williams and Whitfield, who entered the tournament on the back of two straight bronze medal finishes, won their playoff by default from USA-A's Jacob Gibb and Casey Patterson 21-0, 21-0.
Earlier on in their fifth to eighth place semifinal, Whitfield and Williams went under to two-time winners on the tour this year, Cuba-A's Nivaldo D�az/Sergio Gonz�lez 12-21, 16-21 while Guatemala Mois�s Reyes and Erick Garrido won by default from Gibb and Patterson as well.
On Saturday in the quarterfinal, Williams' and Whitfield's hopes of a third straight podium finish were dashed by Cuba-B's Karelll Pina and Daisel Quesada 16-21, 14-21.
In the other quarterfinals, Mexico-A pair and reigning Pan American Games champions Lombardo Ontiveros and Juan Virgen
battled past Gibb and Patterson 28-26, 21-17; Canada-B's Grant O'Gorman and Sam Pedlow ousted Guatemala's Reyes and Garrido 21-9, 21-11 while USA-B's Phil Dalhausser and Nichola Lucena beat D�az and Gonz�lez in two straight sets 21-15 and 21-12.
In the semifinals, O'Gorman and Pedlow rallied past Ontiveros and Virgen 18-21, 21-16, 16-14 to set up a North American final against pre-tournament favourite's Dalhausser, a gold medal winner at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and 2010 World Champion and his partner Lucena. Dalhausser and Lucena had only recently defeated Pina and Quesada, 21-15, 21-11.
T&T-B pair of Simon Blake and Colin Bernard were 13th after coming from behind to beat El Salvador's Carlos Escobar and David Vargas 15-21, 21-17, 15-9 while T&T-C's Kersen Trim and Kevin James were 20th after a 7-21, 18-21 loss to St Lucians Agustin Faulkner and Joseph Clercent
Meanwhile the local women's pair of La Teisha "Chucky" Joseph and Apphia Glasgow finished 12th from 20 teams. Coming up against Jamaica's Danielle Perry and Kai Wright in the 11th place battle, Joseph and Glasgow who on Saturday just missed out on advancing to the quarterfinals, were beaten 10-21, 14-21.
T&T's other team in the women's tournament, Ayana Dyette/Malika Davidson enjoyed a better finish, beating Cayman Islands' Jessica Wolfenden and Stefania Gandolfi 24-22, 23-21 for 13th.
Last night, in the gold medal match, USA-A's Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat came up against Canada-B's Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas.
This after Fendrick and Sweat humbled Cuba-A's Lianma Flores and Leila Mart�nez, 21-10, 21-18 in their semifinal while Broder and Valjas got the better of defending champions and countrywomen, vs Canada-A's Melissa Humana-Paredesn and Taylor Pishcke 21-14, 14-21, 15-8.
On Saturday night in the quarterfinals, Fendrick and Sweat dumped Costa Ricans Yuliana Gonz�lez and Eugenia Ram�rez 21-10, 21-12; Broder and Valjas beat Cuba-B's Yanileydis Sanchez and Lidianny Echevarr�a) 21-11, 21-17;
Humana-Paredes and Pishcke outlasted USA-B's Jennifer Kessy and Emily Day 21-14, 22-24, 15-13, and Flores and Mart�nez overcame Mexico-B's Claudia R�os and Gloria Santoyo 16-21, 21-17, 15-8.
The third place playoff as well as the fifth placed matches also took place last night.
